RIVERSIDE, Calif. - It was a battle of the top two teams in the PacWest, and the matchup did not disappoint. The Point Loma women's basketball team came back from a late deficit with two huge 3-pointers by Kassidy Gengenbacher to force overtime but it could not stop No. 4 California Baptist's Kamille Diaz in the extra period and fell 94-85 on Saturday, Feb. 25.
 
The loss ends Point Loma's second nine-game winning streak of the season and completes their regular season record at 23-4, which is the Sea Lions' best record ever at the NCAA Division II level. PLNU, which is ranked No. 6 in the latest NCAA West Regional poll, also ends up in second place in the PacWest (17-3) with is most wins ever in league play. The win allowed the No. 2 team in the region, CBU (29-2, 20-0 PacWest), to extend its winning streak to 26 games and complete a perfect 2016-17 PacWest regular season.
 
Trailing since the start of the fourth quarter, Point Loma found itself down five (78-73) with 37 seconds left, before Gengenbacher hit a 3-pointer to bring it back within two. After an exchange of free throws, PLNU fouled Diaz with 23 second left sending her to the line for two. She missed the front-end, opening the door for the Sea Lions to tie the game with a 3-pointer, and the team capitalized on the opportunity. Gengenbacher took the ball on the left wing and dribbled to the top of the key, pulling up from 3-point range, she sunk the straight on shot knotting the game at 78-78.
 
In overtime, it was Diaz time. The senior guard scored nine of CBU's 14 points in overtime, going 4-of-6 from the field. Diaz finished the game with a Cal Baptist school record 43 points. She was 16-of-25 from the field and 7-of-14 from 3-point range. She added seven rebounds and five assists. The Sea Lions could not match that burst of offense within the final five minutes as they went just 2-of-13 from the field.
 
"For both teams we got to be in a close game which neither of us has in a while," said Point Loma head coach Lisa Faulkner. "This is a great learning experience for us. We didn't play our best basketball and neither did they. But we battled and I am really proud of the way we executed some in-game stuff.
 
"Good players go make great plays in those situations," Faulkner contiued. "It is not as much about coaching as it is about players making plays. They had a player that was making some plays but Kass made some big plays at the end to get us to overtime, we just fell a little short."
 
Gengenbacher finished with a career-high 25 points and eight rebounds. She went 8-of-16 from the field, and 5-of-10 from behind the arc. Roya Rustamzada recorded her 12th double-double of the season with 12 points and a career-high 17 rebounds (all on the defensive end). She is just three points short of 1,000 for her career. Alex Brunk added 16 points.
 
Tori Mitchell also posted a double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Lancers. Erin Asher came off the bench to score 18.
 
"This was an awesome atmosphere," Faulkner added. "We talked about it in practice that there are no more easy games the rest of the year and this was a great test for us. CBU is a top 5 team in the country which put up 121 points in its last game, so for us to come on the road on their senior night and push them to overtime, proves to us that we can play with anyone and this will build some confidence going into the conference tournament and into regional play."
 
Point Loma will begin playoffs next week at the PacWest Conference Tournament. They will receive a first round bye and will open play on Friday, Mar. 3 at 12:45 p.m.